Crime fiction has been one of the most prolific literary genres for over a century. One subgenre that has really taken off since the early 1980s is female crime fiction. The proliferation of female writing in this area, complete with female sleuths, ranges across styles such as ‘cosy’, ‘hard-boiled’, ‘forensic’, and ‘humanist’. As early as 1987 Sisters in Crime, an organisation that has 3,600 members in 48 chapters worldwide, was founded with the mission ‘to combat discrimination against women in the mystery field’. Today the situation seems to have only slightly changed. This seminar aims to survey the crime scene and question protagonists, victims, and suspects, but also to suggest future developments and lines of investigation.